Heart and Soul
by Lefty
Summary: “Sam can’t start without Dean, not really. It started with Dean and it will end with Dean.” A more abstract reason as to why the Winchester boys need one another.


**Title: **Heart and Soul

**Rating: **PG

**Summary: "**_Sam can't start without Dean, not really. It started with Dean and it will end with Dean._" A more abstract reason as to why the Winchester boys need one another.

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the boys or the show. The end.

**Notes:** Inspired by the piano duet.

-----

Each part in a duet can be done alone, in theory.

It will sound all right; it won't seem awkward or forced, just lonely and expectant. It will meander on, drifting, waiting for the other part to pick up and add life.

When you put the two parts together, it suddenly becomes more expressive. It's intricate and captivating, yet surprisingly simple to understand.

Duets are not done without skill. Even the simplest pieces must be played with confidence and proficiency. Each part does it's own thing while still being mindful of what the other is doing. They start off as two separate entities before gradually weaving, almost unnoticeably, into one. Each compliments the other, relies on the other. They rise and fall, move together without colliding, and create a harmony that only those two people are capable of.

Duets must inspire within each person the wantfor the other part, the desire to flow and glide with one another, to depend on one another, to _need _one another.

The Winchester brothers play two different parts yet work as one. They can function alone, and have before, but like a duet, need the other. It's not an average brotherly bond - one built in childhood out of pillow forts and wild imaginations. It's deeper and stronger, arising from the fire and smoke and the things other boys only imagined.

They are meant to balance each other, to play off one another, to help one another. In the short time they've been together on this earth, they are beaten and worn, confused and adrift. But despite their losses they have gained the one thing they needed most – each other – and that's one less thing to look for.

Dean is the heart in all of this. He's constant, steady, and unceasing. He's Sam's cue and lead.

Sam can't start without Dean, not really. It started with Dean and it will end with Dean.

Sam is the soul. He deviates off Dean's unwavering beat, his guidance, yet always keeps time with his older brother. He tries out his wings and Dean lets him. But when Sam is done flittering and falling, he starts over and Dean is there to guide him back.

Dean doesn't stray; he can't. He gives Sam a beat. He lets Sam build off what he provides and lets him do his own thing, his own way. But it's all to Dean's time.

_Heart and soul._

_Dean and Sam._

Dean determines the pace and the key. Sam doesn't know, is unaware. A lot of what he does in life is improvising, but he unwittingly does it to Dean's beat, because deep down that's what comfortable and real and Sam knows he can always start over.

No matter how many times Sam stumbles or forgets his way, Dean won't falter. Dean's assumed his role without protest and has memorized his part. He could do it blindly, but he could never do it without Sam.

_Heart and soul._

_Dean and Sam._

Dean is not one for sentimental words and reassurances because he knows that more is said between him and Sam when they simply don't say anything at all. A duet articulates all it needs to without the use of poetic lines written to a specific melody. It's the way the two people tumble in opposite directions, keeping time together despite the distance, yet always managing to meet back in the middle. It's a give and take and something neither of them would trade because they are the purpose and meaning in each other's life.

Dean plays the same part, time and time again, and always will. Yet it never gets old because Sam is there to argue and object, to wander away and stumble back, and to add that _something_ to Dean's life that no one else can or ever will be able to.

Sam is the only one Dean would ever play this part with; Sam is the only one he'd ever play this part _for_.

That's why Dean continues patiently, deftly keeping time and measure despite their hardships. He knows it's a beat that Sam will always recognize and can always come back to.

_Heart and soul._

_Dean and Sam._

Dean could change, he could vary his tune, but he stays the same for Sam's sake. He lets Sam wander and search because that's what Sam needs. That's Sam's part and it wouldn't be right if it were any other way.

Dean knows his part, knows his place.

He's just helping Sam finds his.

_Heart and soul._

_Dean and Sam._

End.


End file.
